Why I use essential oils is the end to a long story.
As of 2010, I have been married to the same man for 46 years. During that time, we raised three children. Early on, we found that one child was deemed “hyperactive” and was put on Ritalin in 1968. After three months of his acting like a zombie, I took him off, but not before his two-year-old sister swallowed one tablet, which, ironically, had the completely opposite effect on her. Twenty-four hours of HER being hyper and HIS being like a zombie was enough for me to ban those drugs from our house.
What was I to do instead? As I was watching a TV documentary about starving children in Africa, I realized that our three-year-old son looked just like them (minus the skin colour). His arms were spindly and his abdomen was bloated. This shocked me as I always thought that I was a good cook and provided good food for our family.
Since this was before Dr. Feingold and his theories and since I knew virtually nothing about nutrition, I began to read all I could find, which was not much at the time. However, I came across some of Adelle Davis’ books, which started me on some detective work regarding our son’s health.
Trial and error told me which foods were good ones and which were not. The same theory was put into practice one summer when I cooked for some camps. (This was written up in Prevention Magazine in April 1977). Kids were calmer, but parents were more annoyed because it meant no more fast or processed foods.
By the time our children were grown, I decided to go back to work. At the same time, I obtained my nursing degree and subsequent certification in Gerontology. I was quickly promoted to nursing director; and, as a result, the stress began to take its toll – mainly because I digressed into the world of fast food and little sleep.
I left the nursing profession in 1995, dying on my feet. I had pneumonia that would not go away despite several treatments using various antibiotics. My digestive system was ruined and I was in congestive heart failure. All of this was at the age of fifty.
That was when we joined our son (the hyper one) and his family in Mexico. We also wanted to learn about our daughter-in-law’s culture and thought it would be a pleasant place to die!
But a strange thing happened. With fresh food and sunshine, my health slowly improved. We also became vegetarians. One look at how meat is handled there in some places will do that to you.
In 2000, we moved back to Canada and I went back to my nutritional roots and began to study more, taking courses that interested me, especially in sports nutrition and raw foods. What I learned I put on our website to share with others.
That was when I was recruited to work in the health food industry, helping people balance their medications with their supplements. Most will not talk to their doctors about taking supplements, but they did tell me. As a result, I was able to help hundreds take both wisely. It is quite revealing to see just how many nutrients are destroyed by medications – both prescription and over-the-counter.
Then, we went to visit our daughter in Missouri. Her husband was a Young Living distributor and talked to me about essential oils. Having studied about herbs, I knew their potential and how their healing properties should be extracted.
But, just to be sure, I started looking around at some of the more popular essential oils to find out how and where they were grown and how they were extracted. I could not do it. I could not find any that could guarantee this type of genealogy.
Having worked in the organic industry, I knew how important it is to be able to trace the source of food. Was it organic, or not? Was it genetically modified? When I saw that Young Living could answer all my concerns, I knew these were the oils for me. Still, I did not like the idea of multi-level marketing. When I realized that the main requirement was a purchase amounting to $50 a year, I knew I could handle that, especially since the quality is unmatched anywhere else.
So, here I am at age 65 (with a husband who is 80). Neither of us has been on any kind of medication for at least fifteen years. We are vegans who eat mostly raw food. I still work three or four days a week as a consultant and I am on my feet for eight hours each day. My husband and I credit the use of nutrition, supplements, and essential oils for our quality of life. If it is possible for us, it is also possible for you.
So, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about any health topic.
Pam Duff, RN, CSNC
August, 2010
